Alaskans stand up for American values

A crowd of anti-Sarah Palin protesters gathered in Midtown Anchorage soon after the Republican nominee for vice president left Alaska to resume campaigning in the Lower 48.

The Saturday protest in front of the Loussac Library appeared bigger than any Anchorage has seen in recent memory. The crowd looked to be in the high hundreds at least, and organizers said they counted 1,500. It included roughly 100 counter protesters supporting Palin.

It sounds like a lot of Alaskans have solid American values. From the same article:

“Sarah Palin frightens the hell out of me. I don’t want her anywhere near the White House,” said Marybeth Holleman of Anchorage.

—snip—

Alison Till, a geologist in Anchorage with the U.S. Geological Survey, said issues such as energy and global warming require solid and unbiased science to make good decisions. Palin’s opposition to listing the polar bear as threatened under the endangered species act and her support of teaching creationism in public schools are not the hallmarks of someone who relies upon solid science, Till argued.

“She is unqualified,” Till said.

The Alaskan blog Mudflats has photos and their own account of the rally, including this little tidbit regarding a right-wing talk radio host named Eddie Burke, who tried to intimidate the organizers of the rally by calling them maggots and reading their phone numbers on the air:

Then, the infamous Eddie Burke showed up. He tried to talk to the media, and was instantly surrounded by a group of 20 people who started shouting O-BA-MA so loud he couldn’t be heard. Then passing cars started honking in a rhythmic pattern of 3, like the Obama chant, while the crowd cheered, hooted and waved their signs high.

And I’m sure this spontaneous display of courage in standing up to this twisted man with a microphone will be spun by the right as “not respecting freedom of speech.” You know the drill by now. The right spews its hate and then explodes in phony outrage when people dare to stand up to it.

So while some people might wish to continue the culture wars and attempts to pit rural versus urban, gay versus straight or black versus white, normal people aren’t buying it. I can’t say if the American people as a whole have had enough of Republican lies and hypocrisy, but it’s heartening to see 1,500 Alaskans standing up to the bully-boy tactics of the right. Given the relatively small population of the state, that’s quite a display.

An estimated 10,000 people were waiting at the Pony Express Pavilion in Carson City to see Palin at 6 p.m., according to Carson City Sheriff’s Office estimates.

However, only 3,500 will be let in to see Palin speak in her first Nevada campaign stop. Everyone else will have to be content with watching outside the pavilion on big screens with amplified speakers.

@2 No, you don’t have that right. A group of Democrats protected the community by preventing a rightwing thug from broadcasting individual’s personal information on the air that could have put individuals and their families in danger from other rightwing hooligans.

Cut the diversionary crap, troll. Clinton was called out about the Bosnia story and retracted. Palin still lies. It is not “misremembering” when it is repeated in the face of proof to the contrary. Hypocrisy thy name is troll.

@13 You may rest assured the lies are coming from Palin not the media. But in your alternate reality university, the only “truth” is what you want to hear.

Let me be frank with you, Troll. Under the circumstances, you and people like you can’t be considered responsible adults. Hell you aren’t even a real American. You’re an idolator — of a false ideology, of a failed party, of fakirs. You’re a cultist, a dupe, a fool, a tool. You’re evil, because by worshipping the lies and hate of the GOP Party, you are harming yourself, your family, and your country.

If I wanted you to buy me a beer on various occassions, but then at some point I did not want you to buy me a beer, would I be lying if I made the statement at some time in the future “I did not want Roger to buy me a beer?”

@17 As a lawyer and former judge with over 30 years of experience in evaluating the credibility of witnesses, I wouldn’t believe you. I’ve never met a Republican who isn’t trying to get someone else to pay for his beer, even when he asserts he’s not — especially then.

When ABC’s Charles Gibson asked Palin if she had ever met a foreign head of state, here’s how she answered:

“It is for no more politics as usual and somebody’s big, fat resume maybe that shows decades and decades in that Washington establishment, where, yes, they’ve had opportunities to meet heads of state … these last couple of weeks … it has been overwhelming to me that confirmation of the message that Americans are getting sick and tired of that self-dealing and kind of that closed door, good old boy network that has been the Washington elite.”

That would get an “F” from any self-respecting high school debate teacher.

But in Wingnut World, ignorance is better than knowledge, and an empty resume is better than a Harvard degree or job experience. And that’s why I wouldn’t let a wingnut like Palin run a Seven-Eleven much less the most powerful military in the history of mankind.

Apparently she’s never heard of the Korean War, Vietnam War, and Grenada and various other small skirmishes; nor is she aware that the Cuban Missile Crisis brought America and the Soviet Union to the brink of nuclear devastation.

The only people who are propagating culture wars are the left. Which party forms race based caucases? Which party calls you an ‘Uncle Tom’ if you’re black and vote republican? Which party freaks out if you want to mention intelligent design?

Palin claims that Alaska’s geographical closeness to Russia is equivalent to foreign policy experience. When Gibson asked her what insights into Russia that physical proximity gives her, Palin’s vapid response was, “You can actually see Russia from Alaska.” She also asserted that her support for developing Alaskan oil is a foreign policy “credential.”

@20 If Obama isn’t eligible to serve as president because “he wasn’t born in the United States,” that is, if it turns out he was born in a foreign country to an American parent, then neither is McCain, who was born in Panama.

@20 (continued) However, inasmuch as Obama was born in Hawaii in 1961, and Hawaii became a state in 1959 (although this fact isn’t relevant in any case), the inevitable outcome of this “killer lawsuit” is that it will be settled with the plaintiff agreeing to pay Obama’s defense costs.

Senator McCain parents both American citizens at the time of his birth his father was stationed at a military base in Panama where he was born. Now you want to play games who is a real America by 100% both parents being Americans compared to Barry?

The American people will take McCain over Berry birth in africa anyday.

5) Berg is an unsuccessful office-seeker; he ran for governor of Pennsylvania and the U.S. Senate in the 1990s, and was roundly defeated all 3 times.

6) Berg, by his own admission, has been sanctioned and fined for ethical violations by his bar association, which he says he’s appealing.

7) Berg illustrates “my very successful record in big cases” by describing how he defeated a county ordinance that banned using hand-held cellphones while driving.

8) Berg’s reply to the argument that Obama has a certified birth certificate showing he was born in Hawaii is that, “I think that, in this type of case, the burden of proof shifts. I think that Sen. Obama owes it to his party and to the citizens of this country to show that I am wrong. If … he ignores this topic, I believe it shows guilt on his part.”

9) Berg’s federal court complaint alleges that Obama “lost his U.S. citizenship” because his mother “married an Indonesian citizen and relocated herself and Obama to Indonesia.”

I predict this “lawsuit” will result in yet another ethics sanctions against Mr. Berg, as it is unprofessional and a violation of attorney conduct rules to file frivolous lawsuits based on untenable legal arguments.

However, Steve, you can take a small comfort from knowing this whackjob is one of our nuts, not one of your nuts. We, unfortunately, have some of them, too.

In point of fact, if someone is born in a state of the United States, as Obama was, neither parent has to be an American citizen.

On the other hand, if someone is born in a foreign country, as McCain was, he nevertheless is a citizen by virtue of his parents being citizens.

In the case of someone born in a foreign country to an American citizen and a foreign national prior to 1986, the child’s citizenship status depends on what the law was at the time of birth, about which no generalizations can be made and which must be determined on a case-by-case basis, as the law changed several times.

Please provide your address so I can bill you for the legal services rendered herein.

@32 The lawsuit doesn’t stand on its own. It is without factual basis or legal merit. That’s the whole fucking point. But, you knowing no more about law than a grasshopper, of course I don’t expect you to understand that until a qualified lawyer explains it to you. That’s why I’m billing you for the explanation.

Atlantic Monthly Online has a good article about John McCain’s views on foreign and military policy that is well worth reading. This article is not a leftwing rant; in it, McCain comes across as intelligent and thoughtful, and with a good knowledge of history, and pursuing clear objectives.

“I once asked Lindsey Graham to name something unusual about McCain in the context of the debate about Iraq; he said that McCain believes, among other things, that ‘some political problems have military solutions.’ A related McCain belief that’s even more out of sync with America’s current mood: wars are quagmires only until someone figures out a way to win them.”

McCain grew up in a famous military family where he had a front row seat to history being made. His lifetime memories embrace World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the Cold War, the Middle East conflicts, as well as Iraq. On domestic policies such as energy and health care, he is a pragmatist who thinks politics “calls for ideological plasticity” and is willing to deal; but in foreign and military affairs, he has been constant and unbending throughout his political career in “his essential belief that the president has a duty to confront perceived threats well before they reach American shores.”

McCain, at least, has spent a lifetime thinking through complex and difficult issues, and knows what he believes and has guiding principles to inform his decisions and actions. He thinks about substance, not image, and while you might not always agree with him, you come away with respect for the effort and rigor behind his ideas.

The contrast with his running mate, a former beauty contestant whose main (and perhaps only) skill is delivering memorized lines with poise and charm, couldn’t be more stark. You get the feeling that Palin knows little of history, has no capacity for military analysis at all, is merely a rote ideologue unable to connect actions with consequences and therefore is unable to explain her decisions except in wooden ideological terms that have been spoonfed to her by ghostwriters.

McCain’s selection of Palin is easily explainable in terms of political greed and personal lust for office. But either he is supremely confident of his ability to serve all of his term if elected, or he has suffered a severe lapse of judgment by allowing ambition to completely displace his otherwise formidable intellectual skills.

@42 Spoken like a true Republican: You expect to get things without paying for them, and you expect other people to work for free. Fuck you. Either pay me or find yourself another lawyer. In fact, I’ll suggest one: Try the ACLU. They accept charity cases. And you wouldn’t be the first Republican to run to the ACLU for free legal help.

@43 Fine if you stop living in the alleys of pioneer square and get a mailing address I’ll send you what your advice was worth. Until then tell us the difference or shut up and finish off that bottle and go back to sleep.

Comment #40 shouldn’t be interpreted as endorsing McCain’s views on foreign policy or use of military force. I’m not a pacifist — if you’re attacked, you must fight. For example, the liberals who built America’s middle class are under assault by an implacable and utterly ruthless ideological foe whose aims are selfish and whose methods are evil, and we must kick them every chance we get, especially when they’re down.

However, those who study history have learned to be very skeptical of war as an instrument of policy. Apart from the horrors and inherent immorality of war, wars have a way of getting out of hand, and also, they rarely achieve their intended purposes (with a few historical exceptions). War seldom can be justified except in circumstances where failure to fight would result in an even larger and costlier war, and even greater horrors. For example, the U.S. intervention in Kosovo stopped a genocide and ended a conflict that could have spread from the Balkans to become to a larger European or even world war.

Two of those historical exceptions were the American revolution and civil war. Both were necessary wars that achieved their objectives: Securing independence and freedom from despotic foreign rule; and creating a modern nation that became successful while eliminating the abomination of slavery. But both were fought at terrible cost, and the civil war in particular had lasting negative consequences that still echo through our society and politics today.

Most Americans think of the world wars as Allied victories. In fact, they were less than that. World War I failed to establish either democracy or lasting peace. Instead, its outcome created the conditions that led to the Bolshevik and Hitlerite dictatorships, with their attendant horrors. World War II, even though it resulted in the unconditional surrender of our enemies, resulted in an even more dangerous world that produced the Cold War, several major conflicts, the Middle East quagmire, and various regional conflicts. Since 1945, all of the major military conflicts involving the U.S. have ended ambiguously and essentially resolved nothing.

Thus, those who study and understand history are skeptical of military action’s utility as a means of shaping our world or removing threats to our own safety. Most of our recent military endeavors have not worked out in that way. Wars have a way of getting out of control, and their outcomes have generally been even less susceptible to the aims of those who sought the military solution.

For this reason, as articulate and thoughtful as McCain is on foreign policy and military strategy, his faith in military power is excessively optimistic and his bias toward military action robs him of the prospect of using diplomacy and other non-military means of influencing events and the actions of other societies effectively to both obviate the need for force, and to make use of force more effective where it must be used. In light of this, despite his experience and the obvious depth of his policy thinking, he is not necessarily the best leader for our nation in these times of complex and ambiguous international challenges.

A transcript of the unedited interview of Sarah Palin by Charles Gibson clearly shows that ABC News edited out crucial portions of the interview that showed Palin as knowledgeable or presented her answers out of context. This unedited transcript of the first of the Gibson interviews with Palin is available on radio host Mark Levin’s website. The sections edited out by ABC News are in bold. The first edit shows Palin responding about meeting with foreign leaders but this was actually in response to a question Gibson asked several questions earlier:

GIBSON: Have you ever met a foreign head of state?

PALIN: There in the state of Alaska, our international trade activities bring in many leaders of other countries.

GIBSON: And all governors deal with trade delegations.

PALIN: Right.

GIBSON: Who act at the behest of their governments.

PALIN: Right, right.

GIBSON: I’m talking about somebody who’s a head of state, who can negotiate for that country. Ever met one?

PALIN: I have not and I think if you go back in history and if you ask that question of many vice presidents, they may have the same answer that I just gave you. But, Charlie, again, we’ve got to remember what the desire is in this nation at this time. It is for no more politics as usual and somebody’s big, fat resume maybe that shows decades and decades in that Washington establishment, where, yes, they’ve had opportunities to meet heads of state … these last couple of weeks … it has been overwhelming to me that confirmation of the message that Americans are getting sick and tired of that self-dealing and kind of that closed door, good old boy network that has been the Washington elite.

Next we see that Palin was not nearly as hostile towards Russia as was presented in the edited interview:

GIBSON: Let me ask you about some specific national security situations.

PALIN: Sure.

GIBSON: Let’s start, because we are near Russia, let’s start with Russia and Georgia.

The administration has said we’ve got to maintain the territorial integrity of Georgia. Do you believe the United States should try to restore Georgian sovereignty over South Ossetia and Abkhazia?

PALIN: First off, we’re going to continue good relations with Saakashvili there. I was able to speak with him the other day and giving him my commitment, as John McCain’s running mate, that we will be committed to Georgia. And we’ve got to keep an eye on Russia. For Russia to have exerted such pressure in terms of invading a smaller democratic country, unprovoked, is unacceptable and we have to keep…

GIBSON: You believe unprovoked.

PALIN: I do believe unprovoked and we have got to keep our eyes on Russia, under the leadership there. I think it was unfortunate. That manifestation that we saw with that invasion of Georgia shows us some steps backwards that Russia has recently taken away from the race toward a more democratic nation with democratic ideals. That’s why we have to keep an eye on Russia.

And, Charlie, you’re in Alaska. We have that very narrow maritime border between the United States, and the 49th state, Alaska, and Russia. They are our next door neighbors.We need to have a good relationship with them. They’re very, very important to us and they are our next door neighbor.

GIBSON: What insight into Russian actions, particularly in the last couple of weeks, does the proximity of the state give you?

PALIN: They’re our next door neighbors and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska, from an island in Alaska.

GIBSON: What insight does that give you into what they’re doing in Georgia?

PALIN: Well, I’m giving you that perspective of how small our world is and how important it is that we work with our allies to keep good relation with all of these countries, especially Russia. We will not repeat a Cold War. We must have good relationship with our allies, pressuring, also, helping us to remind Russia that it’s in their benefit, also, a mutually beneficial relationship for us all to be getting along.

We also see from Palin’s following remark, which was also edited out, that she is far from some sort of latter day Cold Warrior which the edited interview made her seem to be:

We cannot repeat the Cold War. We are thankful that, under Reagan, we won the Cold War, without a shot fired, also. We’ve learned lessons from that in our relationship with Russia, previously the Soviet Union.

We will not repeat a Cold War. We must have good relationship with our allies, pressuring, also, helping us to remind Russia that it’s in their benefit, also, a mutually beneficial relationship for us all to be getting along.

Palin’s extended remarks about defending our NATO allies were edited out to make it seem that she was ready to go to war with Russia.

GIBSON: And under the NATO treaty, wouldn’t we then have to go to war if Russia went into Georgia?

PALIN: Perhaps so. I mean, that is the agreement when you are a NATO ally, is if another country is attacked, you’re going to be expected to be called upon and help.

But NATO, I think, should include Ukraine, definitely, at this point and I think that we need to — especially with new leadership coming in on January 20, being sworn on, on either ticket, we have got to make sure that we strengthen our allies, our ties with each one of those NATO members.

We have got to make sure that that is the group that can be counted upon to defend one another in a very dangerous world today.

GIBSON: And you think it would be worth it to the United States, Georgia is worth it to the United States to go to war if Russia were to invade.

PALIN: What I think is that smaller democratic countries that are invaded by a larger power is something for us to be vigilant against. We have got to be cognizant of what the consequences are if a larger power is able to take over smaller democratic countries.

And we have got to be vigilant. We have got to show the support, in this case, for Georgia. The support that we can show is economic sanctions perhaps against Russia, if this is what it leads to.

It doesn’t have to lead to war and it doesn’t have to lead, as I said, to a Cold War, but economic sanctions, diplomatic pressure, again, counting on our allies to help us do that in this mission of keeping our eye on Russia and Putin and some of his desire to control and to control much more than smaller democratic countries.

His mission, if it is to control energy supplies, also, coming from and through Russia, that’s a dangerous position for our world to be in, if we were to allow that to happen.

That answer presented Palin as a bit too knowledgeable for the purposes of ABC News and was, of course, edited out. Palin’s answers about a nuclear Iran were carefully edited to the point where she was even edited out in mid-sentence to make it seem that Palin favored unilateral action against that country:

GIBSON: Let me turn to Iran. Do you consider a nuclear Iran to be an existential threat to Israel?

PALIN: I believe that under the leadership of Ahmadinejad, nuclear weapons in the hands of his government are extremely dangerous to everyone on this globe, yes.

GIBSON: So what should we do about a nuclear Iran? John McCain said the only thing worse than a war with Iran would be a nuclear Iran. John Abizaid said we may have to live with a nuclear Iran. Who’s right?

PALIN: No, no. I agree with John McCain that nuclear weapons in the hands of those who would seek to destroy our allies, in this case, we’re talking about Israel, we’re talking about Ahmadinejad’s comment about Israel being the “stinking corpse, should be wiped off the face of the earth,” that’s atrocious. That’s unacceptable.

GIBSON: So what do you do about a nuclear Iran?

PALIN: We have got to make sure that these weapons of mass destruction, that nuclear weapons are not given to those hands of Ahmadinejad, not that he would use them, but that he would allow terrorists to be able to use them. So we have got to put the pressure on Iran and we have got to count on our allies to help us, diplomatic pressure.

GIBSON: But, Governor, we’ve threatened greater sanctions against Iran for a long time. It hasn’t done any good. It hasn’t stemmed their nuclear program.

PALIN: We need to pursue those and we need to implement those. We cannot back off. We cannot just concede that, oh, gee, maybe they’re going to have nuclear weapons, what can we do about it. No way, not Americans. We do not have to stand for that.

Laughably, a remark by Gibson that indicated he agreed with Palin was edited out:

PALIN: But the reference there is a repeat of Abraham Lincoln’s words when he said — first, he suggested never presume to know what God’s will is, and I would never presume to know God’s will or to speak God’s words.

But what Abraham Lincoln had said, and that’s a repeat in my comments, was let us not pray that God is on our side in a war or any other time, but let us pray that we are on God’s side.

That’s what that comment was all about, Charlie. And I do believe, though, that this war against extreme Islamic terrorists is the right thing. It’s an unfortunate thing, because war is hell and I hate war, and, Charlie, today is the day that I send my first born, my son, my teenage son overseas with his Stryker brigade, 4,000 other wonderful American men and women, to fight for our country, for democracy, for our freedoms.

Charlie, those are freedoms that too many of us just take for granted. I hate war and I want to see war ended. We end war when we see victory, and we do see victory in sight in Iraq.

GIBSON: I take your point about Lincoln’s words, but you went on and said, “There is a plan and it is God’s plan.”

Gibson took her point about Lincoln’s words but we wouldn’t know that by watching the interview since it was left on the cutting room floor. I urge everybody to see just how the unedited version of the first interview compared to what we saw on television by checking out the full transcript. It is a fascinating look into media manipulation via skillful editing.

Roger Rabbit is right about one thing. Certain jobs lend themselves to experience. With some positions, the more experience a person has, the better they’ll perform. But with other jobs, though, this doesn’t hold true, and this is where Roger is wrong. Positions of leadership and vision have nothing to do with experience. They have to do with ideology, and vision for the country. People either want to follow that vision or they don’t.

Sure, with some jobs, the more hours a person has put in, the better they’ll tend to do. An electrician who’s been at it for 20 years tends to know more than someone who’s just started. Same with surgeon. But President of the USA isn’t like being a mechanic at a car dealership, like Roger believes …

Like I said before, a wingnut is someone who thinks ignorance is better than knowledge and a blank resume is better than experience. And if you vote for a wingnut, then you deserve the government you get, wars and all.

“WASHINGTON -Leading Republicans on Sunday faulted both presidential campaigns for the increasingly negative tone of their advertising, suggesting the bitter attacks undermine John McCain and Barack Obama’s credibility with voters and could backfire.”

(Quoted under fair use.)

Roger Rabbit Commentary: What we have here is Republicans blaming Republicans acting like Republicans on Democrats, and throwing in a little they’re-just-like-us for good measure. Now ain’t that just like Republicans …

Sliming Palin September 8, 2008 False Internet claims and rumors fly about McCain’s running mate. Summary We’ve been flooded for the past few days with queries about dubious Internet postings and mass e-mail messages making claims about McCain’s running mate, Gov. Palin. We find that many are completely false, or misleading.

* Palin did not cut funding for special needs education in Alaska by 62 percent. She didn’t cut it at all. In fact, she increased funding and signed a bill that will triple per-pupil funding over three years for special needs students with high-cost requirements.

* She did not demand that books be banned from the Wasilla library. Some of the books on a widely circulated list were not even in print at the time. The librarian has said Palin asked a “What if?” question, but the librarian continued in her job through most of Palin’s first term.

* She was never a member of the Alaskan Independence Party, a group that wants Alaskans to vote on whether they wish to secede from the United States. She’s been registered as a Republican since May 1982.

* Palin never endorsed or supported Pat Buchanan for president. She once wore a Buchanan button as a “courtesy” when he visited Wasilla, but shortly afterward she was appointed to co-chair of the campaign of Steve Forbes in the state.

* Palin has not pushed for teaching creationism in Alaska’s schools. She has said that students should be allowed to “debate both sides” of the evolution question, but she also said creationism “doesn’t have to be part of the curriculum.”

We’ll be looking into other charges in an e-mail by a woman named Anne Kilkenny for a future story. For more explanation of the bullet points above, please read the Analysis.

Correction: In our original story, we incorrectly said that a few of the claims we examine here were included in the e-mail by Kilkenny. Only one of the claims – about the librarian’s firing – was similar to an item in that e-mail. We regret the error.

Clarification: The summary originally said that Palin “tripled” per-student funding. The bill Palin signed will triple per-student funding for what Alaska calls “intensive needs” students, but has not done so yet. We also reworded that sentence to make clear the tripling is for funding for special needs students with particularly high costs. Special needs funding overall increased as well. Analysis Since Republican presidential nominee John McCain tapped Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to be his running mate, information about Palin’s past has been zipping around the Internet. Several claims are not true, and other rumors are misleading.

No Cut for “Special Needs” Kids

It’s not true, as widely reported in mass e-mails, Web postings and at least one mainstream news source, that Palin slashed the special education budget in Alaska by 62 percent. CNN’s Soledad O’Brien made the claim on Sept. 4 in an interview with Nicolle Wallace, a senior adviser to the McCain campaign:

O’Brien, Sept. 4: One are that has gotten certainly people sending to me a lot of e-mails is the question about as governor what she did with the special needs budget, which I’m sure you’re aware, she cut significantly, 62 percent I think is the number from when she came into office. As a woman who is now a mother to a special needs child, and I think she actually has a nephew which is autistic as well. How much of a problem is this going to be as she tries to navigate both sides of that issue?

Such a move might have made Palin look heartless or hypocritical in view of her convention-speech pledge to be an advocate for special needs children and their families. But in fact, she increased special needs funding so dramatically that a representative of local school boards described the jump as “historic.”

According to an April 2008 article in Education Week, Palin signed legislation in March 2008 that would increase public school funding considerably, including special needs funding. In particular, it would increase spending for certain special needs students that Alaska calls “intensive needs” (students with high-cost special requirements) from $26,900 per student in 2008 to $73,840 per student in 2011. That almost triples the per-student spending in three fiscal years. Palin’s original proposal, according to the Anchorage Daily News, would have increased funds slightly more, giving intensive needs students a $77,740 allotment by 2011.

Education Week: A second part of the measure raises spending for students with special needs [the intensive needs group] to $73,840 in fiscal 2011, from the current $26,900 per student in fiscal 2008, according to the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development.

Unlike many other states, Alaska has relatively flush budget coffers, thanks to a rise in oil and gas revenues. Funding for schools will remain fairly level next year, however. Overall per-pupil funding across the state will rise by $100, to $5,480, in fiscal 2009. …

Carl Rose, the executive director of the Association of Alaska School Boards, praised the changes in funding for rural schools and students with special needs as a “historic event,” and said the finance overhaul would bring more stability to district budgets.

According to Eddy Jeans at the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development, funding for special needs and intensive needs students has increased every year since Palin entered office, from a total of $203 million in 2006 to a projected $276 million in 2009.

Those who claim that Palin cut special needs funding by 62 percent are looking in the wrong place and misinterpreting what they find there. They point to an apparent drop in the Department of Education and Early Development budget for special schools. But the special schools budget, despite the similar name, isn’t the special needs budget. “I don’t even consider the special schools component [part of] our special needs funding,” Jeans told FactCheck.org. “The special needs funding is provided through our public school funding formula. The special schools is simply a budget component where we have funding set aside for special projects,” such as the Alaska School for the Deaf and the Alaska Military Youth Academy. A different budget component, the Foundation Program, governs special needs programs in the public school system.

And in any case, the decrease in funding for special schools is illusory. Palin moved the Alaska Military Youth Academy’s ChalleNGe program, a residential military school program that teaches job and life skills to students under 20, out of the budget line for “special schools” and into its own line. This resulted in an apparent drop of more than $5 million in the special schools budget with no actual decrease in funding for the programs.

Not a Book Burner

One accusation claims then-Mayor Palin threatened to fire Wasilla’s librarian for refusing to ban books from the town library. Some versions of the rumor come complete with a list of the books that Palin allegedly attempted to ban. Actually, Palin never asked that books be banned; no books were actually banned; and many of the books on the list that Palin supposedly wanted to censor weren’t even in print at the time, proving that the list is a fabrication. The librarian was fired, but was told only that Palin felt she didn’t support her. She was re-hired the next day. The librarian never claimed that Palin threatened outright to fire her for refusing to ban books.

It’s true that Palin did raise the issue with Mary Ellen Emmons, Wasilla’s librarian, on at least two occasions, three in some versions. Emmons flatly stated her opposition each time. But, as the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman (Wasilla’s local paper) reported at the time, Palin asked general questions about what Emmons would say if Palin requested that a book be banned. According to Emmons, Palin “was asking me how I would deal with her saying a book can’t be in the library.” Emmons reported that Palin pressed the issue, asking whether Emmons’ position would change if residents were picketing the library. Wasilla resident Anne Kilkenny, who was at the meeting, corroborates Emmons’ story, telling the Chicago Tribune that “Sarah said to Mary Ellen, ‘What would your response be if I asked you to remove some books from the collection?’ ”

Palin characterized the exchange differently, initially volunteering the episode as an example of discussions with city employees about following her administration’s agenda. Palin described her questions to Emmons as “rhetorical,” noting that her questions “were asked in the context of professionalism regarding the library policy that is in place in our city.” Actually, true rhetorical questions have implied answers (e.g., “Who do you think you are?”), so Palin probably meant to describe her questions as hypothetical or theoretical. We can’t read minds, so it is impossible for us to know whether or not Palin may actually have wanted to ban books from the library or whether she simply wanted to know how her new employees would respond to an instruction from their boss. It is worth noting that, in an update, the Frontiersman points out that no book was ever banned from the library’s shelves.

Palin initially requested Emmons’ resignation, along with those of Wasilla’s other department heads, in October 1996. Palin described the requests as a loyalty test and allowed all of them (except one, whose department she was eliminating) to retain their positions. But in January 1997, Palin fired Emmons, along with the police chief. According to the Chicago Tribune, Palin did not list censorship as a reason for Emmons’ firing, but said she didn’t feel she had Emmons’ support. The decision caused “a stir” in the small town, according to a newspaper account at the time. According to a widely circulated e-mail from Kilkenny, “city residents rallied to the defense of the City Librarian and against Palin’s attempt at out-and-out censorship, so Palin backed down and withdrew her termination letter.”

As we’ve noted, Palin did not attempt to ban any library books. We don’t know if Emmons’ resistance to Palin’s questions about possible censorship had anything to do with Emmons’ firing. And we have no idea if the protests had any impact on Palin at all. There simply isn’t any evidence that we can find either way. Palin did re-hire Emmons the following day, saying that she now felt she had the librarian’s backing. Emmons continued to serve as librarian until August 1999, when the Chicago Tribune reports that she resigned.

So what about that list of books targeted for banning, which according to one widely e-mailed version was taken “from the official minutes of the Wasilla Library Board”? If it was, the library board should take up fortune telling. The list includes the first four Harry Potter books, none of which had been published at the time of the Palin-Emmons conversations. The first wasn’t published until 1998. In fact, the list is a simple cut-and-paste job, snatched (complete with typos and the occasional incorrect title) from the Florida Institute of Technology library Web page, which presents the list as “Books banned at one time or another in the United States.”

Update, Sept. 9: We have revised this section dealing with accusations that Palin wanted to ban books from Wasilla’s library to include more detail about what transpired at the time.

Closet Secessionist?

Palin was never a member of the Alaskan Independence Party – which calls for a vote on whether Alaska should secede from the union or remain a state – despite mistaken reports to the contrary. But her husband was a member for years, and she attended at least one party convention, as mayor of the town in which it was held.

The party’s chair originally told reporters that Palin had been a member, but the official later retracted that statement. Chairwoman Lynette Clark told the New York Times that false information had been given to her by another member of the party after she first told the Times and others that Palin joined the AIP in 1994. Clark issued an apology on the AIP Web site.

The director of Alaska’s Division of Elections, Gail Fenumiai, confirms that Palin registered to vote in the state for the first time in May 1982 as a Republican and hasn’t changed her party affiliation since. She also told FactCheck.org that Palin’s husband, Todd, was registered with AIP from October 1995 to July 2000, and again from September 2000 until July 2002. (He has since been registered as undeclared.) However, the AIP says Todd Palin “never participated in any party activities aside from attending a convention in Wasilla at one time.”

There is still some dispute as to whether Sarah Palin also attended the AIP’s 1994 convention, held in Wasilla. Clark and another AIP official told ABC News’ Jake Tapper that both Palins were there. Palin was elected mayor of Wasilla two years later. The McCain campaign says Sarah Palin went to the 2000 AIP convention, also held in Wasilla, “as a courtesy since she was mayor.” As governor, Palin sent a video message to the 2008 convention, which is available on YouTube, and the AIP says she attended in 2006 when she was campaigning.

Didn’t Endorse Pat Buchanan

Claims that Palin endorsed conservative Republican Pat Buchanan for president in the 2000 campaign are false. She worked for conservative Republican Steve Forbes.

The incorrect reports stem from an Associated Press story on July 17, 1999, that said Palin was “among those sporting Buchanan buttons” at a lunch for Buchanan attended by about 85 people, during a swing he took through Fairbanks and Wasilla. Buchanan didn’t help matters when he told a reporter for the liberal publication The Nation on Aug. 29: “I’m pretty sure she’s a Buchananite.” But in fact, she wasn’t.

Soon after The AP story appeared, Palin wrote in a letter to the editor of the Anchorage Daily News that she had merely worn a Buchanan button as a courtesy to her visitor and was not endorsing him. The letter, published July 26, 1999, said:

Palin, July 26, 1999: As mayor of Wasilla, I am proud to welcome all presidential candidates to our city. This is true regardless of their party, or the latest odds of their winning. When presidential candidates visit our community, I am always happy to meet them. I’ll even put on their button when handed one as a polite gesture of respect.

Though no reporter interviewed me for the Associated Press article on the recent visit by a presidential candidate (Metro, July 17), the article may have left your readers with the perception that I am endorsing this candidate, as opposed to welcoming his visit to Wasilla. As mayor, I will welcome all the candidates in Wasilla.

Palin actually worked for Forbes. Less than a month after being spotted wearing the “courtesy” button for Buchanan, she was named to the state leadership committee of the Forbes effort. The Associated Press reported on Aug. 7, 1999:

The Associated Press, Aug. 7 1999: State Sen. Mike Miller of Fairbanks will head the Alaska campaign chairman for Republican presidential candidate Steve Forbes, campaign officials said. Joining the Fairbanks Republican on the leadership committee will be Wasilla Mayor Sarah Palin, and former state GOP chairman Pete Hallgren, who will serve as co-chairs.

Still, after nine years, the truth has yet to catch up completely.

No Creationism in Schools

On Aug. 29, the Boston Globe reported that Palin was open to teaching creationism in public schools. That’s true. She supports teaching creationism alongside evolution, though she has not actively pursued such a policy as governor.

In an Oct. 25, 2006, debate, when asked about teaching alternatives to evolution, Palin replied:

Palin, Oct. 25, 2006: Teach both. You know, don’t be afraid of information. Healthy debate is so important and it’s so valuable in our schools. I am a proponent of teaching both. And you know, I say this too as the daughter of a science teacher. Growing up with being so privileged and blessed to be given a lot of information on, on both sides of the subject – creationism and evolution. It’s been a healthy foundation for me. But don’t be afraid of information and let kids debate both sides.

A couple of days later, Palin amended that statement in an interview with the Anchorage Daily News, saying:

Palin, Oct. 2006: I don’t think there should be a prohibition against debate if it comes up in class. It doesn’t have to be part of the curriculum.

After her election, Palin let the matter drop. The Associated Press reported Sept 3: “Palin’s children attend public schools and Palin has made no push to have creationism taught in them. … It reflects a hands-off attitude toward mixing government and religion by most Alaskans.” The article was headlined, “Palin has not pushed creation science as governor.” It was written by Dan Joling, who reports from Anchorage and has covered Alaska for 30 years.

That E-mail Author

Switching gears: Almost 100 readers have written to ask us if the many claims made about Palin in an e-mail written by someone named Anne Kilkenny are true. We can tell you that Kilkenny is a real person. (She was quoted by the Chicago Tribune, as we said above.) According to the New York Times, she’s a Democrat. According to Kilkenny herself, Palin “has hated me since back in 1996, when I was one of the 100 or so people who rallied to support the City Librarian against Sarah’s attempt at censorship.”

We’re still analyzing Kilkenny’s claims, and we will be posting something on this soon.

That’s exactly right, Edward. In fact, I posted much of the content of your comment #72 last week. Newsweek published a FactCheck.org article saying many of the same things you’re saying, and I posted it right here on HA — days before you did.

Since then, though, new information has surfaced that reopens some of the Palin stories that FactCheck.org debunked, and the stuff you’re posting today is not necessarily current information.

Btw, Edward, is there some reason why you didn’t attribute #72? After all, you’re not the original author. You’ve quoted copyrighted material, and you’re supposed to identify the source. In addition, you cut and paste the whole thing, instead of quoting excerpts, which probably is a copyright violation. “Fair use” certainly is not so broad as to allow unattributed cut-and-paste of 100% of the source material. It’s certainly a violation of HA’s posting policies.

We’ve also learned that Palin staffed her administration with personal friends (mostly from high school) and Wasilli cronies who had little, if any, qualifications for the jobs she appointed them to.

That may be a governor’s prerogative, but it’s not good government, and if you’re gonna ask someone to vote for you for high office they’re entitled to consider how you’ve used the powers entrusted to you in lower offices.

Truman had it right: The offices, the power, the trappings of power — all of it belongs to the people, and is to be used only for the public benefit.

Then, the infamous Eddie Burke showed up. He tried to talk to the media, and was instantly surrounded by a group of 20 people who started shouting O-BA-MA so loud he couldn’t be heard. Then passing cars started honking in a rhythmic pattern of 3, like the Obama chant, while the crowd cheered, hooted and waved their signs high.

Sounds very progressive to me shout a man out and not let him speak! As a conservative, we tend to listen to the spew of stupidity in case they may have an answer of intelligence… but it never works…

@81 Burke broadcast the home phone numbers of hundreds of people on his radio show. Try that shit with me and see how progressive I’ll be. You’ll think a neanderthal hit you with a club. That fucker is lucky that’s all they did to him.

Actually, that’s not exactly correct either. Carter inherited inflation that started on Nixon’s watch and continued on Ford’s watch. Where did it come from? Putting an expensive war on a credit card — same as Bush and the GOP are doing right now. And what do we have now? Double-digit wholesale inflation that’s tripled gas prices in a few short years and is pushing some grocery prices up by 40% or 50% almost overnight.

Inflation is not an Act of God or a random accident of nature. It is an entirely man-made phenomenon that results from the deliberate choices of politicians, and in the last 60 years, the worst inflation has always started on a Republican president’s watch.

Actually, that’s not exactly correct either. Carter inherited inflation that started on Nixon’s watch and continued on Ford’s watch. Where did it come from? Putting an expensive war on a credit card — same as Bush and the GOP are doing right now. And what do we have now? Double-digit wholesale inflation that’s tripled gas prices in a few short years and is pushing some grocery prices up by 40% or 50% almost overnight.

Carter did nothing except give the panama canal away! In two years Reagan fixed the whole mess. That is leadership!

Sorry but the president has much power to lower interest, its called lowering TAXES you lower taxes on people that provide jobs you then lower inflation as well as interest rates. And guess what, you also increase tax revenue with more people working. A formula that has been proven again and again. Government is not the answe it is the problem!

Palin’s assistant, Ivy Frye, called a private citizen who runs a blog critical of Palin and told her to “Stop blogging. Stop blogging right now.” (Source: Seattle Times)

Palin’s director of agriculture is a high-school classmate who had been a real-estate agent and “cited her childhood love of cows as a qualification” for the job. (Source: Seattle Times)

Palin appointed as Alaska’s attorney general a crony form the Wasilla city council whose legal experience consisted of handling worker’s comp cases. (Source: Seattle Times)

“When a board recommended closing a state-owned dairy …, Palin responded to farmers’ protests by ousting board members and installing her real-estate agent, Kristan Cole, as chairman.” (Quoted from Seattle Times under fair use)

“The Wasilla High School yearbook archive now doubles as a veritable directory of state government.” (Quoted from Seattle Times)

“Many lawmakers, Democrats and Republicans alike, described Palin as a leader missing in action. She has spent 312 nights at her Wasilla home, 600 miles from the capital, according to state records. Some legislators became so frustrated that they took to wearing yellow ‘Where’s Sarah?’ pins.” (Quoted from Seattle Times)

“Palin … walks the national stage as a small-town foe of ‘good old boys’ politics and a champion for ethics reform. But … her visceral style and penchant for attacking critics … contrasts with her public image. She has pursued vendettas, fired those who crossed her and sometimes blurred the line between government and personal grievance, according to public records and interviews with 60 Republican and Democratic legislators and local officials.” (Quoted from Seattle Times under fair use)

The Boston Globe reported last week that a Palin aide lied about Palin visiting Iraq. “Lt. Col. Dave Osborn, commander of the 3d Battalion, 207th Infantry of the Alaska National Guard, … said Palin did not cross in Iraq. ‘You have to have permission to go …,’ Osborn told the newspaper.” (Source: MSNBC)

@95 Lowering taxes without lowering spending causes inflation; and inflation is a tax.

Bush and the GOP congress cut taxes for the rich (not so much for the rest of us) while increasing spending 3 times as fast as Clinton did, and we’re now suffering the Bush Inflation, which has more than wiped out the middle class’s puny tax cuts.

Tell you this, if I sign a petition, show at any convention or protest I will be proud to show my ugly face, I have done all 3. If you are not doing something you are that proud of perhaps you should rethink your standing. I will give you a phone # so I can help you with your lack of pride in your endeavors.

Wow! This thread has been up less than 12 hours and already has 100 posts! That’s more than Stefan’s sucky little blog gets in a whole fucking month. Btw, I haven’t checked recently — is Stefan’s blog still in business?

Bush and the GOP congress cut taxes for the rich (not so much for the rest of us) while increasing spending 3 times as fast as Clinton did, and we’re now suffering the Bush Inflation, which has more than wiped out the middle class’s puny tax cuts

When did a middle class guy give you a job? Not talking about mowing lawns here but a JOB?

Also, on the librarian thing. Caribou Barbie asked the question as what would you (the librarian) do if I (the Mayor, your boss) asked you to ban a book? A real get-the-lay-of-the-land question would have been, “What do you do if a patron asked for a book to be banned?” That’s an okay question but asking if the boss can ban a book is a whole other thing. And she asked it twice so clearly she had something in mind or was testing the waters.

But I digress because she’s white noise. The real question is where is the real John McCain? The one from the Straight Talk express? How is it possible that even Karl Rove (in an article in today’s Times) is saying that McCain’s campaign is being less than honest in his ads? How low to you have to go as a Republican to get Karl Rove to criticize you? Would McCain be able to go back to the old McCain if elected? Doubtful.

So Lehman is going down and Merrill Lynch is being sold. We are just on the tip of the iceberg that is the mortgage business disaster. And McCain and Palin want us to get into more wars with Iran, Russia and God knows who else?

Sure vote for them but watch the economy tank and our standing in the world go below North Korea’s. Real thinking (with the emphasis on thinking) Americans know who will get us out of this mess that the Republicans got us into.

@101 “When did a middle class guy give you a job? Not talking about mowing lawns here but a JOB?”

Most jobs are in small businesses, and most small business owners are middle class. I’ve never been employed by a rich guy in my life. All of my jobs were in government, the military, or small businesses owned by middle class businessmen.

@102 Expressing your opinion doesn’t make your opinion fact. Apparently you’re a recent arrival here in Seattle, like within the last 48 hours. Seattle is a gateway to Alaska. Almost everything consumed in Alaska goes through Seattle ports. The Seattle Times does indeed cover Alaska. How do you think I got all those quotes, by walking to the Fairbanks library? You are one dumb idiot.

Really? My experience with that blog is that it’s populated by America-hating terrorist lovers. For example,

Congratulations Speaker Pelosi, now let the bombs fall where they may. My prediction: terror attack on domestic soil passenger aircraft within the next six months. Casualties in the 2-300 range. And, unfortunately, maybe that’s just what we need. It’s obvious people don’t remember what happened 5 years ago. Posted by FullContactPolitics at November 8, 2006 10:52 AM http://blog.usefulwork.com/cgi.....ry_id=7430

As we apparently have some new trolls on this board, I want our newbies to understand that I won’t work for Republican wages or under Republican working conditions.

In fact, I don’t work at all! I’m a fucking leech! As a member of the Owner Class, I don’t work or produce anything. I live off the fat of the land! Specifically, I sleep until noon then spend an hour flipping stocks. That’s the only thing I do all day besides eat, sleep, shit, and fuck. Our Republican government rewards me for this behavior by letting me pay only 1/3rd the taxes working people pay.

Why should anyone work for cheap labor conservatives? They’re sending all the jobs overseas anyway, and hiring illegals for the few jobs we have left in this country because illegals work cheap.

So here’s the deal. I don’t work for you, and you don’t pay me. And because I have no money, I don’t buy anything from your businesses. This is called a Zero Sum Economy. That is, the total of what you sell to consumers equals the total of what you pay workers — namely, Zero!

That suits me just fine, because I have no expenses. I’m a feral rabbit living in a burrow in a public park and eating free grass. I don’t need your fucking job! I don’t need what you sell! So, fuck you! This is called the Rabbit Up Your Ass Economy. Suck on it, trolls! You can kiss me ass. And while you’re at it, how about a coffee warmup and emptying my wastebasket for me, you lazy oafs? We need to bring back slavery so I can make you suck my rabbit dick on command. Now that’s what I call a real economy — Republicans sucking Democrat dicks! In the meantime, if you’re horny, go fuck your pet goats.

As the unofficial HA greeter, elected by popular acclaim, it is my duty to welcome the new trolls and inform them of the ad hoc HA posting rules:

1) This is a liberal blog. 2) Anyone can post here except JCH. 3) There is no censorship. 4) As liberals, our mission is to verbally kick the living shit out of you fascist traitors. 5) No mercy for wingnuts! 6) Our terms are unconditional surrender, and there will be trials. 7) klake is a Nazi.

This is a very scary guy, No one other than a Terrorist could possibly negotiate with another terrorist. Terrorist will not negotiate with true Americans or the west. How can they? BHO is what A ……………….. you fill in the blank.

Vote for a true American that will never sell us out to the enemy like BHO will. Vote McCain God Bless America

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